Objectives: Develop and validate a new and simplified score for evaluating the lower urinary tract symptoms in men. Materials and methods: We modified the existing visual prostate symptom score, including changes in the images, sequence, and new alternatives, resulting in a new visual score (LUTS visual score-LUTS-V). For the validation of the new tool, we used the International Prostatic Symptom Score as the gold-standard and the new LUTS-V to 306 men. The total IPSS score and the total LUTS-V score of each subject were evaluated to determine the agreement between the two instruments. ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and best cut-off of LUTS-V. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratios were used to describe the diagnostic properties. Results: The mean age of the participants was 59 [52-87] years. There was a significant correlation between LUTS-V and IPSS. (r=0.72 (p <0.0001). The Bland-Altman analyzes demonstrate good agreement between the two questionnaires (bias=5.6%). LUTS-V demonstrated excellent diagnostic accuracy in detecting the most serious cases with an area under the ROC curve of 83% [78-87%] 95% CI. p <0.001). LUTS-V >4 was the best threshold, with a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 78%. Conclusions: LUTS-V is a simple, self-administered tool with a significant discriminatory power to identify subjects with moderate to severe LUTS and may represent a useful instrument for the diagnosis and follow-up of men with urinary symptoms.

OBJECTIVETo validate a new simplified score for the assessment of men with LUTS (LUTS-V).METHODSWe made adjustments to the VPSS, resulting in a new simplified instrument (LUTS visual score – LUTS-V). In a pilot study, LUTS-V was administered to 50 men to identify interpretation issues. We used the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) as the gold standard to validate the new tool in 306 men. The total IPSS and LUTS-V scores for each subject were evaluated and we used Bland-Altman analysis and Pearson’s correlation plot to assess the agreement between the scores. A ROC curve was utilized to determine the diagnostic accuracy of LUTS-V and its diagnostic properties were described in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values.RESULTSMedian age was 59 [52-67] years and, according to the IPSS, 26 (8.7%) patients had severe symptoms, while 99 (33%) had moderate symptoms, and 175 (58.3%) had mild symptoms. We found a positive correlation between the IPSS and LUTS-V (r = 0.72; p < 0.0001). Bland-Altman analysis showed good agreement between the two questionnaires. We found LUTS-V to have a diagnostic accuracy to detect more severe cases of 83% (95% CI: [78-87%]; p < 0.001), as estimated by the area under the ROC curve. The cut-off value of ≥ 4 points was the best threshold, with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 78%, which resulted in a negative predictive value of 81% and a positive predictive value of 71% in this scenario. Median completion time was 0.51 [0.41-1.07] min for LUTS-V and 2.5 [2.2-3.4] min for the IPSS (p < 0.0001). In addition, 91.5% of patients completed the questionnaires with no help, while the other 8.5% were interviewed.CONCLUSIONLUTS-V is a simple, self-administered tool with a significant discriminating power to identify patients with moderate to severe symptoms.